The Academy of Oncology Nurse Navigators white paper, "Assessing the Creative Application and Usefulness of NSider: A Tactical Tool for the Oncology Nurse Navigator" was published in the journal, The Oncology Nurse-APN/NP.

As 2013 comes to a close, GBEMTI would like to wish its members, partners and other industry professionals a safe and happy holiday season. As we reflect on the past year for the industry, we would like to provide the readers of the GBEMTI eNews a look at the most-accessed exclusive content articles from the year. Our regular publication will resume Jan. 9.

How the government shutdown affects healthcareBy Pamela Lewis DolanFrom Oct. 3: The Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, is at the center of the budget debate that has resulted in a government shutdown. But one of the ironies of the situation is that the program will remain funded. It even reached a major milestone — the launch of the insurance exchanges — on Oct. 1, the same day other areas of government were forced to place employees on furlough. The ACA, as well as Medicare and Medicaid, are not affected by the shutdown. But other areas of healthcare, particularly those in the public health arena, don’t fall under the same exceptions and were forced into limbo.

Food for thought: How are you perceived professionally?By Karen ChildressFrom Oct. 10:
How you are perceived as a physician makes a difference. Fair or not, we’re all judged based on how we present ourselves. Being perceived professionally goes way beyond the wardrobe we choose, however. In many cases, how we are viewed by others is based on more subtle factors. Here are a few items that can impact what others think about you as a professional.

5 good things the Affordable Care Act imposed on healthcareBy Mike WokaschFrom Aug. 22: The U.S. healthcare market is well entrenched with operational complexity, an inefficient cost structure and serious quality issues. The diversity of treatment, along with huge, inexplicable variability in costs and how care is paid for make the Affordable Care Act even more challenging to implement. Whether or not you are a fan of "Obamacare," this government-driven initiative has already facilitated five major changes to healthcare.

A closer look at keratoconusBy Dorothy L. TenglerFrom May 16: In keratoconus, the normally round cornea becomes thin and irregular or cone-shaped. When this occurs, the abnormal shape prevents the light entering the eye from being focused correctly on the retina, resulting in distortion of vision. The risk of developing keratoconus may be higher in individuals who have certain inherited diseases or genetic conditions, such as Down syndrome, Leber's congenital amaurosis, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or osteogenesis imperfecta. Over the last several years, significant progress has been made in identifying genetic risk factors for keratoconus.

Health plans in the new healthcare exchangesBy Dr. Jonathan Kaplan From June 6: If you've been keeping up with the healthcare debate, you'll notice Republicans are predicting the demise of "Obamacare" and Democrats are predicting the Affordable Care Act to be the "second coming." The debate is coming to a fever pitch again because the new healthcare exchanges are about to come to fruition. Starting Oct. 1, consumers will be able to go online and view these different plans. Now that the date is nearing, some state exchanges have released their plan options and their associated premiums from participating insurance companies on the exchange.

The 6 biggest innovations in healthcare technology in 2013MedCity NewsThis year we've witnessed amazing innovations in technology with everything from wearable tech like Google Glass or Nike+ to the recent introduction of Coin, one card that stores all your credit cards, debit cards, personal accounts, business accounts and other cards typically filling your wallet.

Medical device industry facing tough road aheadBy Rosemary SparacioFrom Oct. 17:
The business climate in 2013 and beyond will prove to be a challenging one for medical device manufacturers. And with the current government shutdown centering around the Affordable Care Act, one of the sticking points for passage of the funding bill is removing the steep excise tax on medical devices from the equation by delaying funding for the ACA for at least a year. The industry faces several changes, but the excise tax will have the biggest impact.

Making safe drugs is harder than you thinkBy Mike WokaschFrom Aug. 15: Whether you manufacture prescription drugs for a pharmaceutical company, compound drug products or prepare solutions in a hospital for administration to patients, you have an obligation to make sure your products are prepared correctly, to deliver the desired dose without doing harm the patient. Aside from the regulatory/legal requirements, there are good reasons for drug companies to adhere to cGMPs when making prescription drugs.

Big Pharma replaces innovation with acquisitionBy Mike Wokasch From Sept 26: Big Pharma, including Big Biotech, has executed about 130 mergers or acquisitions in each of the past couple of years. The overwhelming majority of deals designed to fill depleted Big Pharma pipelines with more novel and innovative technologies in later stages than their own R&D had been able to produce. If Big Pharma is relying on others to do drug discovery, how deep does the discovery pipeline have to go to be indefinitely sustainable?

Amazing new technological advances in healthcareBy Rosemary SparacioFrom April 18: It probably does not surprise anyone just how much technology has affected our daily lives. But the impact of technology in healthcare has been and continues to be nothing short of astounding. And there is always more to come. At the Society of Interventional Radiology's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting, three new treatment advances were discussed: irreversible electroporation, cryoablation and cryoneurolysis. Here is a closer look at what each has to offer.

Promising stem cell treatment for neonatal brain injury and strokeBy Dr. Afsaneh Motamed-KhorasaniFrom Sept. 12: Human umbilical cord blood is a rich source of stem cells, which could be potentially used for the treatment of hematopoietic diseases. Ischemic brain damage is a major cause of mortality and severe neurologic disability. Recently, the use of human umbilical cord blood for the treatment of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and ischemic stroke has been explored in several studies.

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